


Protecting Her

by olivemartini



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: Childhood Memories, F/M, Hurt, Romance, bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4509909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, he had met a little boy named Cameron, who had wandered the halls of the hospital whenever his scar was especially bothersome.  Once, he had watched a little girl who was naïve and innocent enough to trust people when they said her mother was going to be fine, who would paint her mothers nails every week so she would be happy when she wakes up.  Once, he overheard Cameron tell his little girl that her mother was going to be fine, to be trust him, and he found himself almost believing it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protecting Her

* * *

Once upon a time, he had met a little boy named Cameron, who had wandered the halls of the hospital whenever his scar was especially bothersome.  Once, he had watched a little girl who was naïve and innocent enough to trust people when they said her mother was going to be fine, who would paint her mothers nails every week so she would be happy when she wakes up.  Once, he overheard Cameron tell his little girl that her mother was going to be fine, to be trust him, and he found himself almost believing it.

Looking back on it, it seems like a life time ago.  He remembers the boy in the plaid pajamas that showed up in the hospital room, offering comfort to strangers despite everything that was going wrong in his own life.  He remembers the smile on his little girls face, and how he got to watch two little kids turn a hospital into their playground. 

They played with trucks, and read each other books, and told each other things that they'd never said before, all while he was pretending to sleep in that chair.  He felt almost guilty, invading his daughter's happiness as he was.  Kirsten painted her mothers nails, and Cameron watched from the doorway of the hospital room, and together they tricked each other into believing that everything would turn out okay.  They gave each other hope in a horrible place, and he was ever so grateful for the comfort that Cameron gave to his daughter.  Somehow, this sick, hurting little boy had managed to do what a grown man could not. 

Take care of his daughter.

* * *

The funeral came and went. 

He was lost in a mind numbing grief, periodically bursting into heart wrenching sobs.

Kirsten didn't shed a tear.

Kirsten couldn't remember anything from before the accident.  She didn't remember how it happened, or anything about her mother.  She didn't grieve for her mother, didn't accept the comfort others gave.  But truthfully, her mom had been gone for a long time before the accident. 

Perhaps the worst thing was that she didn't notice the little boy sitting in the back of the church, dressed in the best clothes he had and with his hair lying flat for the first time, clutching his mothers hand as tears rolled down his face.  Kirsten did not remember the friend she walked right by, and he was so very sorry for doing that to her.

For doing that to him.

* * *

He kept tabs on that little boy from the hospital.

He watched as Cameron grew from a small child to a young man, one who was unhappy with his life despite living in undeniable luxury.  He watched the boy stay relatively friendless, basically an outcast, but still be as comforting and wonderful and good as he was that night in the hospital.  He watched as he won one academic award after another, as he was awarded scholarships and accepted into prestigious colleges.  He watched as Cameron grew into a man that could protect his daughter.  A man that she could trust. 

He made sure that the guidance counselor gave him a brochure that was for a degree in sciences, particularly those concerning the brain.  He made sure Cameron went for it, opened doors for the boy without him even knowing it, all the while doing the same for Kirsten.  He was sculpting them to be something better. 

And when the time came to search for someone to run the Stitchers lab, he made sure that Cameron was at the top of the list.

* * *

He talked to him once.  It was over the phone, and he did not give him a chance to contribute much to the conversation.

"There will be a girl.  She'll be special."  He had to stop, then, because this was as close as being a father as he was ever going to get.  "Can you promise me something, Cameron?"

And Cameron, that stupid boy, had said _anything_ without a moment's hesitation, like everything could be done just by willing it so.  "When this girl comes, you keep her safe.  Not because of me.  But because you'll care about her, and she'll trust you because you ask her too. You protect her."

The boy said yes, of course, I'll do my best to protect anyone who needs it.

He didn't know what was worse: that Cameron seemed to believe it, or that it would be impossible for him to do it.

But it made him feel better to know that Cameron would do his best to protect Kirsten, not because he had made a promise, but because he had not changed much from that night in the hospital.  He would protect, because once upon a time, he had asked a little girl to trust him.

* * *

He wonders if Cameron remembers the little girl from the hospital, the one who painted her mothers nails red and walked the halls in the middle of the night. 

If he does, he doesn't let on.

He supposes he can't fault him for forgetting a childhood friend that seemed to disappear.  Cameron kept his promise.

He kept Kirsten safe (as much as the stubborn girl allowed him to).  Cameron cared for her, going above and beyond his job description (truthfully, he had never expected this scared boy to go to the lengths he did to protect his daughter).  He loves her, with an intensity that scared him.  Cameron was making up for the fact that she never had a home, never had a father, and was becoming everything Kirsten needed. 

Once upon a time, Cameron had given Kirsten hope and happiness in a place where that should have been impossible.

It was his hope, as Kirsten's father, that Cameron could do that again.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Could you tell that Kirsten's father is the narrator? I'm sure if I made that clear.  
> Please comment, it makes my day!


End file.
